


Tales of Earth-X: Palmer and Lance

by Writer207



Series: Tales of Earth-X [3]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Evil, Bi-Curiosity, Canonical Character Death, Earth-X (CW DC TV Universe), Gen, Sad Ending, arrowverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2020-08-19 01:35:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20201584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writer207/pseuds/Writer207
Summary: Earth-X, the Earth so horrible it has no number. Citizens, resembling the inhabitants of Earth-1 and Earth-38, live under the strict regime of the New Reich, inspiring patriots and rebels alike. Sometimes they resemble their other-Earthly counterparts, but more often than not they are very different and are living completely different lives.Palmer and Lance: families from different backstories, intertwined because of chance. As one family tries to change history, the other tries to survive the cruel environment they were brought up in.





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> I do not, nor will I ever support nazism, but the nature of the story does require me to dive deep into the heads of those characters who are nazis. I do not agree with their ideals nor their beliefs; I am merely trying to write an entertaining story with a strong sense of good vs. evil.

We will now move on to the third part of this book, which will detail the life of Dr. Raymond Palmer and his family. As you previously learned, he vied for the title of Führer against Thea Merlyn in his later life. He truly believed he was the best candidate for the job. The people of the city seemed to agree, and even Thea had stated at one point that Ray would make a fine leader. From this point forward, you will learn where this ambition comes from.

This part will not just detail the most important events in the life of Ray Palmer, but also those of the Lance family. Throughout this part, you will learn why I am including some moments in the lives of the Lance family.

These families may not be as intrinsically tied to one another as the Merlyn and Queen families were. Yet, as unlikely as it is, these families greatly impacted one another. You might say the fates of these families were interwoven from the moment Ray Palmer met the Canary. I would like to remind my readers that this is not a fictionalized version of the truth. While I had to try to reconstruct the exact line of events, everything you will read has happened. Just as I could count on Thea's cooperation for the previous part, this part heavily relies on the accounts given by Quentin Lance, the Siren and Ray Palmer himself, in addition to some footage that I could access.

Half of the chapters will deal with the Palmer family, while the other half will focus on the Lance family. Some chapters may be disturbing due to its content. Though nobody will take their own lives, vile actions were taken and you will recognize them when they appear. Needless to say, I am again not glorifying what happened, though my opinion may be clearer in this part than anywhere else. I do promise not to let my presuppositions get the better of me or be any less than objective for this part.

-Elias Jensen


	2. Warning from the future

We start this story with the Palmer family. You may expect this to start with Ray's first day of school but this is not where we need to begin. Before Ray was born, something else occurred that would change his life forever.

Ray Palmer granted me access to the security tapes that recorded what happened five months before he was born. It surprised me neither he nor his father had deleted the footage, but Ray explained it as: "I can at least watch my father make a good decision."

Upon review, I believe Dr. David Palmer had not immediately made his decision, though I can see why Ray would believe this; it seems easy to interpret what exactly happened. Similarly, I do not know what Dr. Palmer and his visitor were thinking and the audio often is not good, but I will do my best to objectively report on what happened.

Dr. David Palmer sat in his office, probably to finish some work, when a strange man entered his office. The man wore a brown trench-coat and seemed to be in a hurry – so much so that he sprinted into the room without knocking or properly closing the door.

David was prepared for every situation. Without batting an eye, he jumped up and aimed his gun at the invader.

"Get the hell out of my office!" David may have shot the man if he had not been in such a good mood that evening. Why he was in a good mood, we may never know.

"I'm sorry, I needed to come by." The stranger spoke in a British accent and panted. "I do not have much time."

David moved closer to the strange man, all the while keeping his aim steady.

"Get out _now_ or I'm calling security. Piss me off and I'll shoot."

"I'm from the future," the invader blurted out. They were the right words for this situation. For two moments, David did not move. He then lowered the gun, though he was still wary of the strange Brit.

"Speak," he said. "You have one chance."

"My name is Rip Hunter," the supposed time-traveler said. "I was born in the 22nd century and I belong to a group called the Time Masters. We protect the timeline." He spoke as if it was clear as day.

I looked into time travel. From my research, I learned the Time Masters indeed protect the timeline, though they take a minimalistic approach and attempt to minimally interfere in events, only showing up to set history back on the right track.

"Why should I believe you?" David asked. He had not yet lowered his gun. It sat comfortably in his hand, the gun's barrel pointed at Ray and ready to fire if this Rip turned out not to be trustworthy.

Though the question did not seem that difficult, Rip needed a little time to come up with a good answer. "Your son… you haven't decided on a name yet. I believe he will be called Ray."

This was true. David did not like to give away the name of his child before it was born; it was seen as a miracle that the newspapers reported the gender and that David allowed them to print it. At that moment in time, only David and his wife knew the name they wanted to give their son. In conclusion, this was the perfect way to gain David's trust.

Dr. Palmer placed the gun on his desk without taking his eyes off of the time-traveler, whom he eyed with interest.

"what are you here for?"

"To give you this." Rip approached the scientist and handed him a small piece of paper. While David read it, Rip took a few steps backwards to keep a respectable distance. "These people will become the biggest nuisances to the New Reich. To be more precise, they all either directly or indirectly influence the fall of the New Reich.

The piece of paper contained five names, written in neat handwriting. The names were never revealed during the conversation itself and Dr. Palmer kept the paper out of reach. Yet, we know those people were Nathaniel Heywood, Mari McCabe, Carter Hall, Rory Regan, and Kendra Saunders. One was a meta, two of them had access to specialized or magical gear, while the other two were two reincarnated powerful Egyptians. David did not know all of this information when he read the names, for he only had access to the names.

"The Reich cannot fall," David said, parroting one of the first things children learn in Kindergarten. The Reich cannot fall, for it is glorious and large. There are more cringe-worthy lines like that, but since they are irrelevant, I will not include them here.

"But it did," Rip said. "A 'free America' came to Europe and eventually killed the German Führer, ending an era." The Time Master sat down in one of the chairs. "My parents were loyalists in a changed England. They taught me the same values your father had taught you. These people…" he glanced at the piece of paper. "If they are kept in line, the Reich may not fall."

"Are you certain?" David asked. Rip nodded.

"Without them, nobody in the Reich will be brave enough," he responded. History has already proven this statement is untrue, though it could be possible the rebels had waited longer to attack without these five people, who were not even born at the time of this meeting.

"If I deal with this, the future changes," David said. He had taken his time to think about the implications and the consequences of this conversation or his future actions. "This isn't the natural course of time."

"Of course it is not," Rip said. "If it were, the Reich will fall in twenty years or even less. I'm giving you a once-in-a-lifetime chance to keep this nation great. do you accept this offer?"

David did not hesitate. "I do."

"Good." Rip nodded in approval. "I will see the good results with my own eyes."

The time traveler stood up and walked to the door. Before he left the office, he turned to Dr. Palmer one last time. "I don't believe we will see each other again."

We do not know what happened to Rip Hunter after his superiors discovered this action, but it is safe to assume his superiors had punished him.

"Thank you for the opportunity," David said.

"Once in a lifetime, Dr. Palmer," Rip responded. "Make it count."

This was the last time Dr. David Palmer and Rip Hunter spoke to one another. Rip Hunter walked out of the room while David sat down behind the desk and read the note again.

It is not known why Rip Hunter chose David Palmer to alter the timeline. If you wanted to make sure some people would never do what they were originally supposed to do, I would think you would contact the Führer and let him know about the different threats.

On the other hand, giving the note to someone who is part of the regime, but who wasn't that close to the Führer or on his staff, the time traveler had made certain that his plan would be harder to detect. The Führer may have immediately killed these five while they were babies, which Rip's organization would most likely notice. Giving the note to David – in the case that he went about things discretely – made it harder for the Time Masters to locate who Rip had given instructions to, though they would know it when David killed the give.

I cannot tell you how the history of this country would have looked like if Rip Hunter had not intervened. I can only say the events in which Nathaniel Heywood, Mari McCabe, Rory Regan, Kendra Saunders, and Carter Hall participated, were a part of an alternate history now, one I do not know of. Given that I do not have enough information about this alternate history, I will not discuss it any further.

I can speak of the history of the new timeline – of our current timeline. I believe David at first did decide he would kill the children as he found them, but that he later changed his mind. He may have reasoned that if these people were truly the downfall of the New Reich, he could try to find them so that he could adopt them. When these children learn from birth that the New Reich is a glorious state, they may be less inclined to destroy it. This method did work.

I can say with certainty that only Mari McCabe would actively help the rebels in their efforts. Kendra Saunders and Carter Hall were killed by a man named Vandal Savage, while Nathaniel Heywood and Rory Regan were loyal sons who became great assets to the New Reich.

You can see why this event would come to impact Ray's life. While he would have most likely been an only child in the alternate history, he now had three brothers to play and fight with. It may have only given him a different perspective of life at best, but it does change how he grew up and how he was raised, which makes it an important change.


	3. Started from the bottom

Now we will take a look at the beginnings of the Lance family.

This family could not be more different from the Palmer family at this point in time. They did not have a large sum of money to start with and neither did they have a big house in the nicer part of town. The only similarity with the Palmer family was the love they had for one another, even if that love was not always visible.

Quentin Lance had grown up believing he would always be stuck in the same financial situation. Born into poverty, he beat the odds to become a police officer. He was not paid very well since he was only at the start of his career in one of the most underfunded police stations of Star City, but it was better than the poverty his parents could not escape. At the same time, he met his now ex-wife.

Meeting Dinah was finding a saving grace. He fell head over heels in love with her and she fell just as hard for him. They had two beautiful daughters together, Laurel and Sara, before Dinah left. Though Quentin does not know why she wanted the divorce, it is now known Dinah had met a veteran who fought in Argentina and fell in love all over again. She divorced him but did not take away the girls at Quentin's request. She used to come over from time to time, but even that faded after a while.

She left them, and as such, they lost an important source of income. His meager paycheck was barely enough – combined with the little alimentation, he was just able to raise two girls to have at the very least a decent life. For financial reasons, they moved into a smaller apartment closer to Quentin's work to save money. Quentin was still a rather proud man and did not want to be dependent on Dinah's money. He'd rather make his own money, though he accepted the alimentation.

Still, this mentality pushed him and his girls in the financial situation he was born into. His next paycheck could never come fast enough and he did everything he could to get the next promotion to earn more money. This way, he hoped he could afford to send Laurel and Sara to a good school, so they would have a good education and escape this cycle of poverty.

But fate worked in mysterious ways. Within one week, the lives of Quentin and his daughters were drastically changed.

"Dad! Laurel broke the mirror."

Not knowing the context or the circumstances, Quentin did not like the news. There was only one mirror in the apartment and he did not know if he had the money to replace it. he hadn't heard anything coming from the bathroom, but Laurel had shouted. The situation did strike him as odd – he would have expected Sara to break something instead of Laurel.

Quentin rose from the rundown couch to inspect the damage. Whatever he had expected, he was perplexed when he opened the bathroom door.

The bathroom was a mess. Glass shards were scattered across the ground. The girls sat in the bathtub, the only place not covered in shards. Where the mirror had hung against the wall, there was some damage as well. It was as if Laurel had taken a hammer and hit the wall in a regular circular pattern after destroying the mirror to create a circle of indented tiles. They did not own anything that could have caused that kind of damage.

Laurel did not just 'break' that mirror.

Before he said anything about the situation, he rescued the girls from the bathroom. He was still wearing his shoes, but he still tried to step in the spots that had the least shards. He separately picked up Laurel and Sara and carried them out of the bathroom.

"What happened here?" Quentin asked.

"Laurel yelled and broke the mirror," Sara said. "It was very loud."

"I didn't mean to do it," Laurel said in her defense. "I'll buy a new one."

"It's okay," Quentin said, pulling his daughter into a hug. "You don't have to pay it back."

At this point, Laurel was six years old. During this event, the sisters and their father learned that Laurel was a natural-born meta.

Quentin did not waste time to register her. A natural-born meta in the family may save them from poverty – she could be asked to study at the Academy at the New Reich's expense – even if it cost a lot to register your child in the town hall. You had to pay the full price upfront and specify the powers. Later that week, an officer would come by to verify whether she was a meta and to give a detailed report on the displayed power set. If Laurel failed to properly show off her powers, she would be taken off the list of registered metas. Quentin would not be reimbursed for his 'mistake'; he would lose the money.

Laurel had accompanied her father to the town hall that day and she already felt the pressure of having to perform. There was one setback to this: Laurel did not want to break anything else and she was genuinely terrified of screaming loud enough to break something beyond repair. She spoke about it to Sara and her little sister tried to make Laurel feel comfortable in using her powers, even if it did not help.

Three days later, the New Reich officer visited to inspect the claim that Quentin had made. It was a Saturday, so both the Lance sisters were at home. The unnamed officer sat in a chair and stared at the girls, which made them feel uncomfortable. At the same time, Quentin lined up three glasses on the dining table. These were three of the four glasses they owned.

Quentin sat down on the couch next to his daughters and gave the reigns to the officer, who leaned in closer to Laurel.

"Go on, little girl," he said, "Show me what you can do."

Laurel stood up and looked at the glasses. She took a couple of deep breaths, but in the end, she was too scared and did not scream. She had wasted five minutes of the officer's time like this. The officer grew impatient and stood up to leave when Sara stepped in.

"Wait!" she said, "she really can scream loudly. You need to see this."

Not waiting to hear the officer's answer, Sara turned to Laurel. "You won't hurt us. We're far enough away. Dad will buy new glasses."

Sara's enthusiasm and support motivated Laurel enough to try to break the glasses, but only if everyone stayed behind her so they wouldn't be hurt. The officer, Quentin, and Sara moved to stand behind her, and Laurel took another breath.

And she screamed.

It was the most amazing and painful thing Quentin had ever seen or heard. Laurel screamed at such a high frequency, the glasses broke almost immediately and the wall behind it indented even before the table slammed into it. Laurel's witnesses had to cover their ears, for the noise was so deafening and hurtful.

When the silence returned, their ears were ringing. Quentin was shocked at the full extent of his little girl's talent and Sara grinned widely, happy for her sister. Laurel herself was elated, though she could not help but feel bad for damaging the wall and the glasses and for her dad, who had to cover all of the reparation costs.

The officer was impressed and wrote a glowing report. Laurel was officially a registered meta-human.

* * *

A letter arrived in Quentin's mailbox a week after the officer evaluated Laurel's powers. It came from the New Reich.

Quentin trembled as he read it. The report had given such a positive and powerful look at what Laurel was capable of, that the New Reich wanted to make a deal with them. The Reich was aware of Quentin's financial problems and mercilessly played into this to get their way. His daughters would be allowed to attend one of the better _Grundschulen_ of Star City. When they reached the appropriate age, they would attend the Academy. The biggest advantage of this deal: the New Reich was not only willing to pay for Laurel's education but for Sara's as well. Quentin would now have to pay a dime for his daughters' educations.

The New Reich made him a second offer in the same letter. Because of an illness in the family, Quentin couldn't continue his military career past the mandatory year. The New Reich would set this right by allowing him to join the military again. They would pay for the military course as well. But the New Reich would not give him bonuses nor would they relocate him for his new job. Quentin would have to work as a soldier to eventually afford a home that would fit his new social status.

That same night, he woke the girls and told them the good news. Both girls could not have been happier with the decision of the New Reich. They would start their education at their new school the next Monday, while Quentin's re-schooling would start next month, which was still twelve days away.

Quentin failed to realize the manipulative nature of this offer. The girls would be raised in an environment with a little more propaganda and less resistance. Quentin himself would be 're-educated', too, into a loyal soldier who would never question the entity that brought him and his daughters the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. However, I do not blame them for making this decision. I do blame the New Reich for using these techniques on people who may have become decent people without the Reich's interference.


	4. First glances

The following Monday, Dr. Palmer would send his older sons to the Academy to be trained by the best teachers the Reich had to offer, both in the academic as military study fields. His only biological son had no military aspirations whatsoever, but David tolerated his decision. David himself never was a soldier for longer than the mandatory year of military service, but he did serve as an engineer for five years. He believed Ray would take a similar route when he was old enough.

Back then, none of the additional Palmer brothers knew the true reasons behind their adoption. Still, they were glad to know they had found a new, loving family, often following a traumatic experience.

Barry and Nate are from the same year as Ray, while Rory was two years younger. The age gap did not matter, because their bond was extremely strong. For all they knew, they could have actually been related.

We already know during which circumstances Barry Allen was adopted into the family. What I did not mention before was Dr. Palmer's motivation. He adopted Mr. Allen purely so that nobody who had a copy of the list he had received would think he was crossing names off said list. He had no intention of adopting Barry Allen in particular; any boy would have done it. Still, fate worked in a funny way, and so he adopted Barry, a natural-born meta who took a long time to discover his incredible speed.

Let's move on to the boys from the list. Nathaniel Heywood was rescued first. He was born into the wealthy Heywood family. The last name had seemed familiar to Dr. Palmer when he first took a look at the list. There were no monetary connections between the Heywood family and the government, but the family lived peacefully and donated enough money to the right good causes to be in good standing with the New Reich government, despite a lack of personal connection. Taking Nate out of that environment without sparking some kind of backlash would be tricky.

Dr. Palmer sent his security detail to the neighborhood, dressed as something that would pass for a rebel's look. They were only meant to be seen by the Heywood family, so nobody else would know these men were not rebels. They could not be, based on the protective gear and weapons they carried. They broke into the house in the middle of the night without any problems. They killed Hank Heywood and his wife, but they did not kill their child; a three-year-old toddler who largely witnessed the entire thing.

The press easily fell for this ruse. Nathaniel was reportedly kidnapped by these men. Three days later, Dr. Palmer's men had found the toddler and sent in a rescue squad, supposedly not wanting to wait for the Reich to act. The people were glad the toddler was saved and since there was no other family, Dr. Palmer adopted Nathaniel Heywood.

Rory Regan was a little older when they 'saved' him. Unlike Nate, Rory came from a family that fostered not only rebellious thoughts but a rare artifact as well. His father was in the possession of some rags that had magical properties. Rory would inevitably come to inherit them and wreak havoc on the New Reich – at least, that is what David pictured. Rory was harder to find, but David eventually found little Rory at the young age of seven.

Based on the mostly right assumption that his parents were rebels, David used his influence to have the New Reich raid the home. It happened that same week and the parents were arrested. Rory was taken into custody as well. David spent quite some time with the young boy to help him. For a month they tried to convince the young boy that his parents were not coming back (they were sent to work camps) and that they were bad people in general, and not just rebels who wanted to destroy the Reich. Rory eventually left the detention center with David willingly.

This adoption was quieter than Nate's press-wide reporting, but in the end, Rory Regan became a Palmer brother as well.

The three – and later four brothers – grew up together. Since David Palmer insisted that the boys kept their privacy and that the press did not report every little detail, there is not much known about their formative years. Still, I will try to create a picture of the events that we do know of.

* * *

It was Ray's second day at the Academy and he could not wait to see his new classmates again. He would have to share them with Nate and Barry, who also joined his year. Rory was still too young for the Academy, but he would be joining them, too, in two years. But for now, only three Palmer brothers joined the Academy.

The brothers walked onto campus grounds, excited to start the school year. New school, new friends, new opportunities and a gateway to the future. Each one had their dreams and hopes for the future and they knew they were going to get the proper education here to see those dreams come true. The classes would not be difficult, but the classmates would be friends and allies for life and the life skills they learned here would be crucial in life. Who knows, maybe they would meet their future wives at this school as well.

"Hey, watch it!" Nate exclaimed. A girl had bumped into him, probably by accident. She was quick to turn at him and glare.

"Well, I'm sorry," she said in quite a brutal tone. She must have woken up grumpy. The girl next to her, probably her sister, called her name to remind her they were not supposed to pick fights with the rich people. Ray heard it, too – her name was Sara.

"Nate, calm down," Barry said to defuse the situation, looking at Nate. Nate turned his back to the girl, rolling his eyes and not sparing her and her sister another thought. Barry then looked at Sara.

"I'm sorry about him," Barry told her, "he's a little brass sometimes."

"I can see that," she responded. The brutality in her voice had disappeared. "It's nice meeting you."

Sara's sister called her name again and the two girls walked away from the Palmer brothers. Nate turned around again to watch the girls leave alongside his two brothers. Nate felt nothing but disdain and pity for them – they looked like the kind of people the government saved from poverty and whose insecurities acted up each time they interacted with someone they did not know yet. Barry thought the same, but he did not see the sisters in a negative light at all. Ray's mind, however, was somewhere else entirely.

"She's cute," he said, his gaze still on Sara Lance. She and her sister had joined another girl they must have befriended the day before. This comment immediately was shut down by his adoptive brother.

"You think every girl you meet is cute," Nate responded.

That was true. Ray could not help but notice he thought every girl he met was aesthetically pleasing and even if she wasn't, there would be something else that would make her cute. Not even the 'ugly ones' were ugly in his eyes. His unpopular belief was often met with resistance from both Nate and Barry, though he frequently was supported by Rory.

"Give it a couple of months," Barry said. "By then, you're already over her. She is probably not even interested."

"Or worse," Nate added, "She could be one of those _annoying_ types, y'know." Annoying was, once again, subjective, though the brothers understood what type of people he was referring to – it was not hard to guess which people Nate would think were annoying.

"Luckily she has a sister."

Barry shook his head. "I wouldn't count on it. See? She's fawning over Oliver Queen again." He pointed at the girls. The sister had walked away from Sara and had approached Oliver Queen and acted as if he were a rock-star. He was a rock-star, except that he never bothered to learn how to play an instrument or to sing.

Nate sighed. "Okay, that's it. She's unattainable now." They were no match for the great Oliver Queen. Everyone wanted to be associated with him, whether that be as best friend or girlfriend. Compare that to the Palmer brothers, whose family was less influential than Queen's, and you can see why nobody bothered to look at them twice when they have already met Oliver.

"But Sara's still cute," Ray said. After this comment, he switched to a different topic. He, as well as his brothers, were happy to discuss something else. Though they talked about different subjects, Ray's mind was clearly with the feisty blonde girl who was not afraid to snap back.

She'd be a brilliant soldier.

If he was not mistaken, he had caught her glancing their way. Ray shook his head – it had to be a mistake. She was probably only looking around.

The bell rang and class began. The four class units of the seventh grade were divided yesterday, into two classes of thirteen people and two classes of twelve people. The Palmer brothers had purposefully been separated and spread across three class units. Ray happened to be sorted into the same class unit as Sara Lance.

For the next six years, Ray and Sara shared most of their classes and homework. Ray had chosen the gun as a weapon – even though he was enrolled at the engineering program, the weapons class was mandatory. Sara had decided to go for close-quarter combat and a fighting staff. Ray often stopped his own training to watch Sara train, while Sara would sometimes pause to see Ray hit the bullseye. They never caught each other staring.

After the first month, Ray had managed to turn Sara into one of his best friends and had proved Barry wrong; his affection for this girl had only grown stronger. While Sara did not show any signs of romantic interest in Ray, they both went through puberty. Hormones always changed the way how people behaved around others, including Sara – she had started to confuse her friendly feelings towards Ray for romantic feelings.

Throughout the seventh and eighth grades, they were best friends. This did change eventually; more precisely, at the start of the ninth grade.


	5. Boyfriends

We now discuss a day where Sara and Ray were in the ninth grade, when hormones run rampant and teen drama can no longer be avoided. The only difference was that this was the usual drama you would be familiar with, times ten. It not only pertained to romance and friendships and betrayals but also added the extra added military element, jealousy and peacock behavior. The one at the top of the social hierarchy was usually the one with the most power or the best skills with their weapons.

Of course, Oliver Queen was at the very top of this arbitrary hierarchy. He not only possessed great skills but was not unattractive either. Many girls had fallen in love with him, including Laurel Lance.

Sara had to hear about him every day. Oliver Queen was handsome. Oliver Queen was hot. Look at those muscles, he could kill a man without even using a bow. Sara tolerated her sister doting on the young man. If anything, you could say Sara admired Oliver in the same way Laurel did, but she never acted upon those feelings. Yes, Sara had liked Oliver, but which girl hadn't at this point? She was happy to just being an ally and a friend, while Laurel still had to outgrow her crush.

Laurel often spoke of hypotheticals. _If_ he loved me, _then_ we would do this and that specific thing. If he broke up with Kara, he would look for a metahuman girlfriend. If he'd only give Laurel a chance, he'd know they were made for each other.

But this realistically would never happen. Sara could see what Laurel could not – Oliver Queen was too devoted to his current girlfriend, Kara Danvers, the alien with multiple abilities. He would never leave her side. She was everything Oliver was looking for in a woman: pretty and strong, not too girly, superior to others and knows it. Kara was gorgeous and damn, did she look good flying around. she had the most beautiful smile and though Sara had tried to befriend her many times, Kara did not want to be associated with someone who technically still belonged to the lower class.

At least Sara managed to befriend Kara's sister, Alex. She was just as gorgeous and powerful as her sister, though in other areas. Alex Danvers was no metahuman, but she was an incredible fighter. She and Sara often sparred together and Alex almost always won – though that could be attributed to Sara being distracted by Alex' curves.

Strangely enough, Sara felt the same way about her other best friend, Ray Palmer. What he lacked in physical strength, he made up in heart and intelligence. He was one of the smartest people she'd ever met and wasn't unattractive either. Still, there was some added element that she did not feel around girls – she had romantic feelings for Ray Palmer.

Hopeless as she was, Sara did not mention it. as soon as she spoke his name the same way Laurel pronounced Oliver's way, Laurel would not let it go. She may even try to set them up on a date. Even if it wouldn't work out, she'd still insist to make this romance work. Then again, there was the question: what if Ray did not feel the same? Sara would only humiliate herself if she had the same fantasies as Laurel.

The doorbell rang. It took Laurel and Sara out of their thoughts.

"I'll get it," Sara said. She stood up and walked to the door of their apartment building. She opened it and her eyes widened. Ray Palmer stood there.

"Hi," he said, a jovial smile on his face and a large bouquet in his hands. This bouquet covered his upper chest and obscured a part of his face. on top of that, he was wearing a probably expensive tuxedo, complete with a bow tie and some hair gel. It was a strange sight, overall, to see Ray Palmer so formally dressed.

And that at her doorstep, in a neighborhood that was everything but fancy.

"Hi," Sara responded hesitantly. "I didn't think you knew where I lived." She also believed she never had given him her address.

"I may have looked it up," Ray confessed. Then he remembered what he was holding. "These are for you."

Thank you," Sara said, accepting the flowers.

Now what to do with them? He did not want to place them down immediately so as not to seem too disrespectful, but she did not want to keep them in the air for the entirety of their conversation as well.

"I'm sorry, do you want to come in?"

"No need, I'm fine," Ray said. he shook his head more than he should have. "I wouldn't want to embarrass your father."

"He's not here right now." He was currently finishing his additional training in National City, and he would not be back until next month. It was not a big deal; Sara and Laurel could look after themselves just fine. At least Quentin would be up to date with all the newest weapons and materials the New Reich offered their soldiers when he returned home.

"Even better," Ray said. he scratched his throat and looked past Sara in the house. That he could not see anyone in the hall may have comforted him. "I… I guess I came here to ask you a question."

"Okay," Sara said. "Is it important?"

"It is to me." Ray opened his mouth to ask the question, but he closed it again. "God, how do I start? Er…" He hesitated for a while, but he eventually found the right words. "Sara Lance, would you…" He cut himself off again. It did not sound right. It would not sound right.

This did not look right to Sara. Ray was always so spontaneous, he never had any trouble asking for anything. And here he was, almost stumbling over his words and insecure about what he was going to tell her.

"Never mind," he eventually said.

Sara frowned. "Never mind?"

"Yeah, never mind. I just…" Ray shrugged. Sara noticed he was having a hard time with this for whatever reason. He shook his head. "I can't do this."

"Why don't you tell me what's wrong?" Sara asked. "We'll figure it out."

Ray nodded. He liked the solution.

"I need to tell you something, but I don't want to ruin our friendship," Ray explained. "I really, really want you to still be my friend if this doesn't go well."

Based on the nervousness he had shown thus far, the way he had phrased his latest statement as well as the size of the flower bouquet he'd given her, Sara made an educated guess.

"Are you asking me out on a date?"

At first, Ray did not respond. After a couple of seconds, he released his breath and nodded. "I guess I am."

Sara smiled. He's asking me out. She was on cloud nine – she did not know when Ray started reciprocating her feelings, but she was glad that what she's been feeling for him would not remain without any response, as Laurel's feelings for Oliver were.

"I don't know what we'll do yet," Ray said. With every word, he seemed to speak faster. "You know, because I don't know how you'll react, but we'll find a good place and time. I know a good pizza place downtown."

"That sounds great," Sara responded, partially to shut him up.

Again, Ray was taken aback. He had not expected her to already agree to the first idea he proposed. "Really?"

Sara nodded. "Yeah. I'll see you there."

A wide grin appeared on Ray's face. it had to be impossible to wipe that from his face – at least until he had to go to bed. "Great! I'll see you then."

"See you then," Sara said." Bye."

"Bye!" Ray responded. He waved one more time at her and then walked away. Sara closed the door and took a deep breath as she leaned against it.

Was this really happening?

Yes. Yes, it was. Ray Palmer had asked her out; they were going to eat pizza on a yet to be decided date. Come to think of it, they did not even know exactly which pizza place Ray had in mind. Luckily, there was school tomorrow. By the time they saw each other again, they could discuss the details.

Ray Palmer had asked her out.

"Congratulations!" Laurel exclaimed, startling Sara. Laurel had come out of their room to see what was going on and, most importantly, why Sara was staying away for so long. She had caught them standing in the doorway, with Sara holding the large bouquet while she figured out what Ray was ding here. Laurel hadn't interfered. She would have screamed in excitement if it weren't for her destructive cry.

"Thank you," Sara said, beaming. She carried the bouquet to the living room and placed them on the couch before Laurel pulled her into a big hug. They stood there for a long time, that Sara even thought of something to put that bouquet in.

"I'm so happy for you!" Laurel then said when she pulled out of the hug.

"Thanks," Sara said. "I need to tell Alex!"

Sara ran to the phone and pressed the number on the speed dial. She held her phone to her ear. After a little while, the person on the other end picked up.

"Alex Danvers speaking," her best friend greeted Sara on the other side of the line.

"Alex!"

"Sara, hi!" Alex responded. "What's going on?"

Sara being excited was audible even from the other side of the line, despite the wiring in this particular area not being the very best. This tone of voice also was quite effective in raising some curiosity on her part.

"Ray asked me out!" Sara grinned as she said this out loud. Even saying it out loud didn't make it feel more real – still, the proof had been unceremoniously dropped on the couch for a lack of a better place to put it. It was really happening.

"He did?" Alex sounded surprised, but also excited. Sara nodded.

"He did!"

"That's amazing!" Alex exclaimed. Sara imagined Alex was grinning as widely as she was. "Congratulations."

"Thanks, Alex!"

They talked for a little while longer, about Ray and the details of their date. After a while, however, they hung up – the phone bill did not need to be so high if they could also talk about it the next day at school. Sara placed the phone back and Laurel took her back to her room. Tonight, the fantasies were not about what might be between Laurel and Oliver – it was Sara's turn to fantasize about what might become of her and Ray in the future.


	6. Steel

At long last, David Palmer had found Mari McCabe, the last person to cross off his list. He previously adopted Rory Regan and Nathaniel Heywood. David did not need to worry about Kendra Saunders and Carter Hall; a foreign advisor named Vandal Savage had killed them. The only one on the list whom David had not managed to find yet, was Mari McCabe.

David had made the mistake of looking only within New Reich borders. Mari was born in Africa to a Zambesian mother. This was after the country of Zambesi had been decimated, and Senegal was not any better. Mari's older sister had died young and her mother did everything in her power to make sure her second child would get the best life.

Senegal was close to Europe, where someone like Mari was only good as a household help. The New Reich was different than the German empire in this regard. Black people and minorities were still considered inferior to the white population, but they at least were free. They existed to be exploited. Mari found a home with the McCabes, a husband and wife who wanted a child but never could conceive. They were white, but were considerably more tolerant than the general New Reich population and were happy to accept a black-skinned girl as their daughter, no matter the implications.

After Mari had boarded the plane to the New Reich with the official that would bring her to her new family, her biological mother was killed for an unknown reason. Mari only had a totem to remind her of her mother, who often called upon spirits of animals to protect themselves. The power comes from within, her mother used to say to her daughter, who was now the last protector of a country that no longer existed and that she had never seen.

Unfortunately for her, David Palmer found out she was in the New Reich. He did not lead a military squad to the McCabe house; that would look suspicious during a time where there wasn't much rebel activity. David raised the question of adopting African children and how healthy they are. He played into the strange belief that Africans carried rare diseases that could wipe out civilizations. This belief was based on the many deadly diseases that had already ravaged the mid-African countries. Of course, this superstition is pure nonsense, but people will believe anything given the right circumstances – and these were the right circumstances.

David was ultimately allowed to place the girl into quarantine; he did not mention she would be quarantined in his own home. After a week, David presented the documents that proved Mari did not carry diseases and that Mari had returned home. Her adoptive parents were told she did carry diseases and nobody was allowed to come close. In reality, Mari was still locked up after a miserable first week. To be certain that the parents would not cause trouble, they were quietly taken care of and were killed. David did not weep for them; they had to be out of their minds to adopt a black child.

Mari could not be re-educated. Despite her young age, fourteen years old, her spirit was too strong to break or to even easily bend. She knew that David's ideology was twisted and wrong; she was convinced David and his sons were the worst people on the planet. David could not persuade her to denounce anything she may have said or done that could be interpreted negatively by the New Reich – a scene immediately followed by Mari swearing and throwing every insult she knew to David and the New Reich.

And during that last conversation, David made an important decision. Desperate times call for desperate measures. The New Reich could not fall.

* * *

Ray Palmer would situate the following chapter happening when he, Nate and Barry were in the ninth grade, while Rory was in the seventh grade. They were only fifteen and thirteen years old when their father told them the African girl had to stay in her cell. The boys wondered why their father had locked away a girl their age in their basement. Knowing they needed to be given information to keep them quiet, David Palmer brought them down there.

The door could be opened with a ten-digit number, or by turning the large and heavy metal wheel on the door. David had encouraged Nate to use his strength as Steel to open the door – he succeeded. If anyone would try anything else to open that door, the alarm would go off. The same rules applied from the inside; if their prisoner so much as scratched the surface of the door, the alarm would go off and the basement would go into lockdown. Mari McCabe would not be able to escape without outside help.

David led his sons through the reinforced door. The four were in awe of what they saw.

The room was secure; the girl was trapped behind a force field, so the young men were safe. She screamed her lungs out, but they heard no sound. She banged her hands against the force field, but it did not break nor did it punish the girl for her actions – it only stopped her from attacking her visitors.

"Don't worry, boys," David said, being the calmest of the group. "She cannot hurt you."

"Can't she speak?" Rory asked when he noticed how much her lips were moving without actually saying anything.

"She can," David confirmed. "I thought it was better to show her while we cannot hear her. Look at her; she'd only interrupt our conversation."

He was right in the boys' eyes – if she continuously shouted a lot of derogatory things, they would never be able to hold a proper conversation in her vicinity.

"Why is she here again?" Nate asked. If she was a threat to the New Reich, shouldn't she be in a prison camp? If she carried diseases, wouldn't it be better if she was killed and thrown away? If she was locked here – why keep her here? What benefit would she be for their father?

"Do you remember the list?" David asked.

They did remember it. David had told them a time traveler had given him a list of names. The people who had these names would pose a threat in the immediate future of the New Reich. Rory and Nate's parents were on the list, according to David, while Barry did not have dissident parents and he was adopted from the goodness of David's heart. That was the story they had heard.

"She's the last one," David said as he stared at the girl. The last person he had to take care of to ensure the New Reich would not fall. Looking at her in her current state, it would not be an easy task.

"Is she going to be our sister?" Ray asked. He had gained three brothers so far, having a sister would be nice as well.

"No." David shook his head. "She is our prisoner. To keep the Reich safe, we sometimes need to make difficult choices. One of them is making sure she never sees the light of day again, or else the Reich will fall."

The tone he used implied she alone could be the destroyer of the New Reich. That was just a fantasy and the boys knew better than that.

"She doesn't look dangerous," Barry said. yes, she may be loud and ready to fight them there and then, but Barry was convinced she was harmless and did not stand a chance against any of the Palmer brothers. She was their age but never had received the same training the Palmer brothers were still receiving.

"Only her necklace is," David responded. "I am keeping it safe in my office. Without it, she cannot break free." And thus, she was now harmless to them.

"But what if someone finds out?" Ray asked. "They'll destroy you." There were many things you could get away with if you proclaimed to do it in the name of the Reich. Still, many people would draw the line at wrongfully imprisoning a young, harmless girl. Not even her skin color would be enough for David to get away with this. The leadership would not care about this, but the people would, and David did not want the bad publicity connected to his name.

"That is why she needs to be re-educated."

"I don't think that's possible," Rory said. just watching how she behaved in their presence, Rory believed that she could not be re-educated. Her behavior reinforced the stereotype of the wild African in Rory's mind; she was too wild to be re-educated.

"Don't worry, Rory," David said, placing his hand on the shoulder of his youngest son. "I will make her obedient."

"How will you do that?" Barry wondered.

"I am developing a machine," David said. "Building has already started. It will take time to perfect, but once it is finished, it's only a matter of months to turn her into a loyal soldier."

"Really?" Nate said. the only soldiers he knew were loyal by default. In his eyes, only the most loyal citizens remain soldiers after the year of mandatory military service. This girl was neither soldier material nor loyal to the Reich.

"She won't even dare eat without permission." David glared at the girl. She glared back.

That was that. the girl still screamed words to them that they could not hear. David led his sons out of Mari's cell. Nate lingered only for a little while, staring at Mari. When David called him, Nate quickly followed. He could not disobey his father. From now on, they were not to talk about the girl, not even to one another.

Still, she intrigued Nate. He was curious about the African girl who came to the New Reich. He wanted to learn about her life and culture and he could not wait until after she was re-educated. Nate always had a fascination with personal history and he wanted to know what Africa really is like, when it wasn't described through the carefully constructed lens of the New Reich.

Nate was convinced he would be getting that information.

* * *

Nate snuck out of his room that same night and went to the basement. The basement itself was not secured in any way, so Nate could easily go there. As Steel, he managed to open the door without setting off the alarm. He closed it behind him with it being open just a crack - he did not know whether closing it now would lock him in with her.

The girl was woken up by the noise. She immediately stood up and swore like no other person had sworn before in front of Nate. He could not understand what she was saying – it must be some African language – but she was so feisty and emotive, the message came across. Every so often, she threw in some German and English curse words she had recently learned so that he would know what she thought of him.

Eventually, she stopped cursing and glared at him.

"Stop staring," she said with an African accent. Nate had not realized how creepy he had been for staring at her and immediately averted his eyes, looking at the wall behind her and only sometimes glancing at her again.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have stared. I should've known it would make you feel uncomfortable."

She frowned and stared at him quizzically. "You're apologizing?"

Nate nodded. "Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I did something that made you uncomfortable. It's something you should apologize for." He tilted his head a little and frowned. "Was it that bad?"

"No," she said. "But nobody has apologized to me since I arrived."

"Even if they should have?"

She nodded. Nate was not surprised that nobody felt the need to apologize to a black girl, but he was disappointed nonetheless. Despite being raised to be like his adopted father, the past few years he'd learned to be compassionate and the racism no longer seemed logical to him. They were all people; even the minorities who were seen as less pure, for some reason.

"Why did you come here?" she asked. There had to be a reason, and she did not necessarily trust him yet.

"I would like to know you," he said. "Well, I mean, I would like to know about where you came from. Your country, culture, history, those kinds of things."

While he watched her with this enthusiastic look, she was taken aback by the interest this fifteen-year-old white boy showed towards her and her culture. Nobody was ever interested in it.

"Really?"

Nate nodded. "Of course! But you don't have to say anything if it makes you feel uncomfortable."

But the contrary was true. A smile appeared on the girl's face. "I accept your offer."

Nate beamed. "Thank you so much!" he exclaimed. He put a hand on his mouth, as if covering it would also silence the noise he'd made. The door was still open; anyone who walked close to the basement's entrance may have heard it. Yet nobody came and Nate looked at the girl again.

"Let's start tomorrow," Nate suggested and the girl agreed with him. "My name is Nate, by the way."

"I'm Mari," she said.

And so ended the first of many nights. For the next three weeks, Nate would sneak out of bed and speak with Mary when everyone else was asleep. The thought of learning something new and talking to a new friend motivated him greatly. He tried to save most of the information in his mind, since writing it down meant a bigger risk of being found out. He sometimes asked her to repeat something she had spoken of a night ago and she always did.

While he was happy to learn, she was delighted to teach. Not many white people were interested in her culture beyond eradicating it to replace it with white culture. She hoped the back-and-forth would at least lessen the presupposed racism and that he would actually learn something from it. Another benefit was having a conversational partner and not feeling lonely, despite her situation.

The topics were wide-ranging: foods and drinks, education, spirituality and religion, language and idioms and translation, living conditions, government and law enforcement and the justice system, geography, traditions and folklore, and mythology; her family. She seemed upset at the thought of what happened. she was too young to remember what happened to her home, but she was saddened nonetheless and did not immediately share this information. Still, over those three weeks, he had gained her trust. She allowed him to learn about the Jiwe family history.

"My home country, Zambesi, once had five tribes living in it. The five matriarchs were the protectors of the country and each possessed a totem. When I was born, grandmother was the only protector left. Only three days later, mother and I fled the village. We came to Senegal. My sister died while we fled, while the others were killed by white men. The necklace I had was grandmother's totem."

"I understand the personal connection to the totem," Nate said, "But does that totem only have symbolic value?"

"The totem allows the bearer to call upon the spirits of animals to take their traits and to protect those we hold dear. It could be used as a weapon, too."

"Oh," Nate said in a semi-confused tone. He did not know what to expect from 'calling upon spirits', but it made sense to Mari, and that was all that mattered.

"To give me my best chance, mother put me up for adoption. Six months ago, someone here wanted me. before I left, mother gave me the totem. She must have known it was the last time we would ever see one another. She has probably passed away by now."

Her mother had been ill, Nate remembered from previous conversations. That fact in combination with not being very loved in Senegal made it impossible for Mari's mother to have survived any longer than she already had.

Mari took a deep breath. "At least you have your parents."

"Not really." It slipped out before Nate could stop it. This piqued Mari's interest; Nate noticed the interested look in her eyes. He could not keep it to himself. Mari had just disclosed her family history and it seemed that today, it was his time to share some personal stories.

"My mom and dad died when I was young," he said. "And then David – Dad – adopted me."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Mari said with a compassionate tone. Nate shook his head.

"Don't be," he said. "They were not good people."

"Why?"

"Because they were bad." Mari did not think it was a good reason and so he elaborated. "Dad has a list with the names of rebels. He thought it would be best if they were killed and my parents were secretly rebels. They were on the list. Dad took it upon himself to adopt me, to make sure I didn't become like them."

"How old were you?" Mari then asked him.

"I don't know. Maybe I was three, four years old," Nate responded. The true timing was not known, and even David wasn't one hundred percent sure about it. "If you want to know whether I remember anything, I don't. not really. It's only bits and pieces."

"What specifically do you remember?"

"There were many people," Nate said. he did not sound very convincing – he didn't know what really happened and what he'd accidentally made up – but he continued nonetheless. "At least twenty. Many guns, many gunshots. Screams… my parents scream and beg, but they don't fight back. Warning shots were fired in the air. They had to confess someone. They didn't."

And then they were brutally murdered.

Nate trembled. He could not say much more. As soon as he had started to speak, the words just came out as he described the scene in more detail than he ever had remembered it up until that point. There had to be some pieces of memory he had put down so much, it had taken such a long time to resurface.

He shouldn't feel bad. They were rebels and deserved it. but as a kid living through this, it was such a traumatic event. He had received therapy to learn how to deal with this, but it never had hit so hard as it just did.

He looked at Mari. She watched him as if she wanted to help, though she wasn't able to because of the force field that separated them. Her gaze did not magically take the pain away, but it did calm him again so that he could speak again.

"What are you thinking?" he asked softly. Something had to be going on in her mind.

"What I'm thinking…" Mari said, carefully choosing her words. "It's something you may not like to hear."

"I will listen," he said. whatever she was now keeping from him couldn't be that bad. It was probably just an alternative look at events, it wouldn't upset him too much. Right?

"You wanted to know this," Mari said as a clear warning. She gave him an option not to hear this, but he chose to want to know this. "I believe… I mean, it's possible your parents weren't rebels."

The suggestion hit him like a truck. Nate remained silent, too shocked to speak. Mari took that as an invitation to carefully keep talking.

"You sad you heard gunshots. The military has weapons, but would they bring in twenty people to kill two rebels? Would they ask the rebels to confess before killing them? I have learned the military gladly kills without question and that they rarely grant their targets some more seconds to confess something. I believe they didn't need a confession to enter the house, so why ask for one?"

Still, Nate could not respond. He could recognize Mari's questions were valid, but Nate did not agree with the direction they took. His mind was stuck on the 'my parents are rebels' thought – something he'd believed his entire life, something he could not easily move on from. He wanted to tell her it was just his memory, and memories can be and are faulty, so what she said could not be true because she wasn't there and he couldn't even trust his own memory.

Yet, he couldn't. She'd planted doubt in his mind, and he could not shake it off.

"I have to go," Nate said softly. He stood up and exited Mari's cell, careful not to trigger the alarm. He needed the space, he needed to think this over, he needed to find a way to know what the truth was and what it wasn't.

He lay in his bed for half an hour and stared at the ceiling when the answer came to him.

The internet. It held all the information he could ever want to look up, but he never used it to look into his biological parents' deaths. Nate had always believed the story David had told and never felt the need to verify this story. Why would he? He had been three years old when it happened; he was young and impressionable enough when David told him why his parents had died and he never questioned his adoptive father's authority.

He opened the New Reich's main search engine and typed in his parents' names.

The results weren't what he wanted to see. Different media outlets had extensively covered the murder of two upstanding private citizens and the subsequent kidnapping of their infant child by the rebels. Ten men supposedly entered the house, guns blazing. It was a miracle the boy survived, the media said. another article clarified the rebels tortured the parents, as recorded by body-cams, and kept the son to raise him and indoctrinate him to be a loyal soldier. Dr. Palmer personally stepped in and his guards had saved the boy, whom David promptly adopted.

Nate wasn't too upset, but he was disappointed in his father. David had lied about his parents' deaths. Why would he not be honest with his adopted son from the beginning; why did he even want to make him believe his parents were bad people? To erase any allegiance the kid may have towards his biological parents, perhaps? To keep him loyal to the Reich?

And what about the list of rebels?

Nate left his room for the second time that night. Instead of heading to the basement to meet with Mari, he went to his father's office. It may be late in the evening – or rather, very early in the morning – but he needed to confront his father. David did often stay up late, so there was a chance Nate would be able to confront him with the truth.

The walk to his father's office wasn't long. Nate knocked on the door, but there came no answer. Maybe his father hadn't heard the knocking, so he knocked again. Again, there came no answer.

But the door was unlocked and Nate entered the office.

There was no way David would have allowed one of his children to enter without his presence or permission. It was so ingrained into their minds, Nate almost turned back. Yet, he persisted. He needed to know the truth, which would be found behind that door.

The computer on the desk required a password, which Nate did not know. Whatever documents David stored on there, he could not access them now. So he did what any other child would do in his situation: rummage through his father's stuff, both through the desk drawers and in the several closets.

Nate had never seen more paperwork in his entire life than during those painstakingly slow minutes. It was all inventions and regulations, and he even found a blueprint for the room his father had been talking about to keep Mari in. He quickly glanced at it and then continued his way.

Eventually, he found the necklace Mari had described to him: the Anansi totem, the necklace that granted the bearer numerous powers, owned by the last protector of Zambesi. For now, it was not locked away or protected by a security system. Rather, it was tucked away in the back of a drawer that was not often opened. Nate grabbed the necklace with no intention of using it himself – he would not be able to, even if he wanted to – but to return it to Mari when the time was right. David would not even notice it was missing.

Not much later, Nate found the list he had been looking for. He had expected and hoped to see his parents' names. That was not what he saw. Instead of his parents' names, there were five other names. Rory Regan, Nathaniel Heywood, Mari McCabe, Kendra Saunders, and Carter Hall. Kendra and Carter… those names sounded familiar. They had been killed by a foreigner. That left only himself, Rory and Mari.

This was never about their parents being a threat to the New Reich in the immediate future. It was about _them_.

Suddenly, Nate felt less comfortable being at home than he usually was.

* * *

Mari had known that Nate would react adversely to the news. Still, she did not know what happened. She was not aware of current events within the New Reich and had only guessed what she thought could be the truth and shared it with Nate, who may not as easily see the truth because of his upbringing. She had not expected him to return that night. She had not even expected him to return this week. So when he showed up for the second time that night and disturbed her sleep, she was shocked.

Before Mari could ask him anything, he spoke.

"You were right. They weren't rebels. Dad lied about them."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Mari said. being lied to by a parental figure is not something she was familiar with, but she did not think it was something trivial neither she nor Nate could push aside.

"It's not the only thing he lied about," Nate said with a grave expression on his face.

He told her about the list, about the names on them and his theory about what it could mean. Mari listened intently, not sure what to do with the information Nate presented to her. she was not surprised to learn a white man would try to change the future so that it would be better for himself, though taking children from their parents and convincing them their parents were bad people was a step too far in the wrong direction. Not putting the man who killed two others from the list on trial and instead allowing him to return to the European mainland was more than just a shameful action. Both Mari and Nate realized that she was next to be changed.

"What will he do to me?"

"I'm not sure," Nate said. "Well, he doesn't want you dead, but as a loyal soldier. He's been building some special room. I know it'll be finished soon, way faster than dad- David expected it to be. Starting tomorrow, you may become that loyal soldier."

Mari was not easily scared or intimidated. When she heard this news, however, she was terrified for her life. David Palmer was going to steal it from her and give to the New Reich without her consent.

"Don't worry, though," Nate said, "I won't let them hurt you."

"How will you try to stop him?"

"We don't," he said, "but we leave tonight."

He carefully opened the door again before Nate, as Steel, smashed the control panel that kept up the force field. The alarm went off, the basement went into lockdown. But the locks did not fit on the opened door, which meant they could quickly escape. Before they fled, Nate gave Mari her necklace back, which Mari gratefully accepted.

The chase began. The guards could come any minute, coming down from the big staircase Nate had used every night to come – the one Mari was running towards.

"No, this way!" Nate said. "I know a shortcut."

Mari immediately turned and followed Nate. He knew the house better than her; at the end of the hallway, they would find a small concealed door that led to another staircase that would bring them to the garden entrance. It was a longer route, but it was not the one the guards may expect her to take and it may not even be locked down. And later, outside of the basement, the guards may expect her to leave via the main entrance or trying to find a window to exit the house from.

The garden was easier. There were high walls, too high for someone like Mari to escape from. But with a little help from Nate, Mari could climb over it. Nate would stay behind; he would leave via the main entrance, telling the guards he'd try to find the girl by running around the block.

They had not decided where they would meet up after this escape. It would be nice to see each other again in the long run, to bump into one another by accident, but it would be safer to travel separately while they both ran away. The only thing they decided was in which direction they would flee, so as not to come across one another.

They found the hidden staircase and climbed it, reaching the large garden easily. Nate shoved the door out of the way and urged Mari to go outside. The two teenagers walked to a portion of the east wall that bordered a back alley. From there, Mari could easily escape.

"Run like hell," he told her. Mari nodded.

"I will find you," she said. She had not admitted it out loud until then, but she had grown rather attached to the young boy who had shown her compassion. He was more willing to admit the same about her.

"And I you."

Nate placed one hand on the other and readied himself to help her get over the wall. To make sure this would work, Mari called upon the strength of an animal spirit.

It was one of the most magnificent things young Nate had ever seen – which was saying something, considering he was raised and taught at a school with a high variety of metahumans. Mari had placed her hand on the necklace and a blue projection appeared around her, with her standing in the middle. The light took the form of a tiger, opening its mouth in a roar. Suddenly, Nate was convinced nobody would be able to capture her so long as she had her necklace. The blue gleam only lasted for a second or two, but it did silence Nate and it left him in awe. He even briefly forgot why he had come here.

Mari ran towards him and jumped, landing her foot in Nate's hands. He gave her a little push upwards, which was all she needed to further leap over the tall wall. He did not see it, but he was certain she landed gracefully, called on the spirit of a fast animal and to escape into the night.

Nate was satisfied with his work. Now it was his turn to get out of the house.

He turned around and his brother Rory was watching him – little Rory, only thirteen years old, wide-eyed and completely in shock, only barely wearing his rags over his pajamas. Nate did not even need to ask why he stared. Rory had witnessed the events. He only knew the truth as David had told him.

"Rory—" Nate took a step in his direction, slowly, in the hopes to convince him to let him go. The rags already acted and raced towards Nate. He tried to fight them off and pull them away, but there were too many to resist for a long time. The rags clamped themselves onto Nate and wrapped themselves around him, tying him down completely. Nate could not move anything. The entire time, Rory kept his eyes on his older brother, looking at him with shock and determination.

At long last, both Ray and Barry arrived in the garden. They, too, had heard the alarm and later also heard the commotion in the garden. They had come in their pajamas.

"What are you doing?" Ray asked, a quizzical look in his eyes.

"Let him go," Barry ordered him, but Rory did not obey. He was too far gone to forgive Nate for what he had done, which was willingly helping a known threat to the New Reich escape. That made Nate a traitor, and his brothers needed to know this as well.

"He helped the girl escape," he said. "He helped her climb the wall."

Nate did not correct him. Ray and Barry stared, confused and angry and disappointed all at the same time. Nate stared back, not a hint of regret on his face.

* * *

What happened between Rory catching him and waking up in the sterile room remains a mystery to this day. Nate vaguely remembers being beaten numerous times by Barry out of pure anger while Rory's rags kept him tied up. Ray either encouraged Barry to keep going or to stop this nonsense so that David could deal with Nate. The beating eventually did stop; his siblings told David what Nate had done. Nate must have passed out at some point, either because of the beating or because Rory's rags had been squeezing him too much, but his world went black.

When Nate woke up again, he was unable to breathe deeply and suffered from a killer headache and back pains. He opened his eyes but closed them again – the bright light shone directly into his eyes. It was hard to get used to. Eventually, he did manage to keep his eyes open.

Everything was white: the walls, the ceiling, even the straps that kept him tied to the most uncomfortable bed he had ever had to lie in. and the lights… the lights were the worst. There was never a moment when those lights were dimmed. The days were timed by when meals would come, even if that was not very reliable either. The meals came irregularly and often was not too edible.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

When Nate awoke and his eyes had adjusted to the light, he finally was what kept him from escaping or breathing too deeply. He was bound to the white table-like bed by his ankles and knees and waist, by his wrists and elbows and shoulders. There was even a strap across his forehead that barely allowed him to turn his head.

He struggled and panicked when he realized just how stuck and alone he was. He must have tried to escape for what felt like an hour, pushing and pulling and shouting at the top of his lungs – surely someone would hear him. He yelled until his voice was gone and cried until he had no more tears left to cry. And the intrusive thoughts came and did not leave him: was saving Mari worth this?

Yes, was the initial answer. If he hadn't, Mari would have been strapped in here. but that answer grew more and more doubtful every passing eternity.

Many eternities later, the hidden door opened to reveal a dark hallway and David Palmer standing there. Nate almost started crying again when he saw his father figure.

"Dad…" It barely came out as a whisper, if it was even audible at all. He had destroyed his voice.

David approached him, a cold and distant look in his eyes – the exact kind of look Nate always noticed when he had disappointed his father. He sat down next to his adopted son but never made eye contact. He stared at the dark spot the opened door had left – a door that seamlessly integrated with the white wall when it was closed. He did not even move at all.

Nate tried to get his attention. But whatever he did, David did not turn or even acknowledge the fifteen-year-old kid he had put here. This continued until Nate behaved himself and did nothing to draw the attention anymore.

"You were never supposed to be here," David then said. "That _African girl_ was." His voice dripped with venom when he mentioned Mari – it made Nate sick how his role model talked about her like she was an animal, but as if she was evil. He continued in a milder tone. "Do you know what happened to her."

Nate could honestly say that he did not. He helped her climb the wall, but Nate foolishly believed (or rather, hoped) his father wanted to know what happened to her after he had helped her. So Nate shook his head, as far as that was possible with the forehead-strap, and his father noticed.

"But you do," he said. "You helped her escape. You gave her that necklace. You helped her jump over the wall." Silence fell for some brief moments. "We may never find her. We may never be able to stop this threat. You are responsible for the end of the New Reich. You're nothing more than an accomplice."

"No," Nate said. His voice was soft and his glare on his father.

"No?" David said. He shook his head disapprovingly. "How petty. You should know better than to talk back. You were such a good boy before she came."

Nate attempted to sit up – as expected, it did not go anywhere and the tight straps only cut deeper into his skin. But he felt like he couldn't lie down for this."

"We are good people," he said, "but you are evil. We are on the list and you lied."

"Yes, you are on the list." Nate was taken back by this sudden admission of lying and the brutal honesty in his voice. "A time traveler came to me once and told me the people on the list would destroy the New Reich. I believed I had done my job right. I took you and Rory in and I raised you; you should be glad I didn't kill you and your brother when I had the chance."

Nate's blood boiled. Despite the fear he felt for his father, he could not stand the thought that David even considered killing Rory, Nate's favorite brother. He was glad David had allowed them to live, though probably for all the wrong reasons.

"I suppose I could kill you. It would save me a lot of trouble." David's tone was so casual. He might as well have been discussing disposing of a broken appliance. This statement made Nate believe he was raised by an actual psychopath. "But you are still my son, so I'm not going to do that."

David stood up and finally looked at Nate. He literally towered over his son, who was forced to look up at the man who had 'saved' him from his parents, at whose mercy Nate was once again. One similarity between today and that day was him being terrified for his life.

"I built this room, now I will use it," David said, "it's time for you to become a good son again."

Terror overtook Nate. He panicked – he did not know what was to follow and if frightened him. More frightening was that David would willingly hurt one of his children, one of whom he would re-educate to be obedient to the absurd level of 'would not dare to eat without permission'.

"No!" Nate yelled, damaging his voice even further. "No, please. Dad. Dad!"

David did not listen. He walked out of the room and the door closed, trapping Nate in the white light again with a renewed will to break free.

That strong will was broken within months. They would only speak German to him while he was desensitized and his personality broken down. No affection was shown and he only knew the bright room and the occasional glimpse of darkness from the basement hallway. The room slowly became his world. They taught him to be obedient while using every brainwashing strategy they knew on him. Nate's will shrank until it did not exist anymore.

Nathaniel Heywood became only a shell of his former self. Even his name and family was taken from him – even his family considered him to be just a personal soldier instead of a brother. They only called him by his new name; Steel. A name the naming committee may have come up with should Nate have made it to the naming ceremony.

Nate disappeared from public life, yet nobody batted an eye. At first, it was reported Nate got hurt when a burglar came in and injured him. Later, it would become common knowledge that Nate Heywood was finishing his education in Germany and, after the high school years, that he had decided to stay there and work as a German citizen. The press took it for granted and did not verify their sources, as was customary when reporting on the aristocracy of the New Reich. Nobody knew what actually happened to Nate.

Steel became a private guard of the Palmer family, sometimes lent to the Führer for more dangerous missions. None of the soldiers make the connection between Steel and Nate, for Steel did not speak unless told. He was an obedient soldier, in some regards more like a dog than an actual human being. This was not living – this was surviving only because someone else made him eat.

That is the tragic story of Nathaniel Heywood.


	7. Top of the world

The end-of-year Academy senior party, held right after the graduation and naming ceremony, started at six. Dinner was served at seven and alcohol was served from eight o'clock forward. For some seniors, this meant it was time to get drunk on beer and wine. One of those seniors was Sara Lance.

Ever since she had discovered alcohol at the age of sixteen, she knew she could never let go of the taste and the buzz it gave her. She always drank until she was drunk because it gave her an amazing feeling; like she did not have a care in the world. She was ecstatic, a state she never quite reached when she was sober.

Sara ate her dinner, got drunk and hit the dance floor. While she was there, she bumped into Alex, who was also invited to the senior party because she, too, was a senior, even if she didn't graduate.

"Sara!" Alex exclaimed when she saw her best friend. Alex, too, had drunk extensively this evening. Sara had truly found an equal in beer taste and the number of glasses downed when they had met.

"Alex!" Sara yelled with the same enthusiasm Alex previously had displayed.

"The Canary!" Alex said. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks," Sara said. She had thought it was a bit tacky beforehand, but now that she's had five glasses of beer, she did not care about the name the Academy had given her. She only cared that she had received one, while Alex hadn't.

"You still should've been given a nickname today, too," Sara said. Alex dramatically shook her head in response and literally waved the idea away.

"I don't need a random moniker to find value," she said. "It won't change my life in any significant way."

Sara had to admit there was a grain of truth in Alex's words. She still believed it was up to the person who received the nickname to make it work or to ditch it.

"It sure does feel good to have one," Sara stated and she raised her glass. Alex nodded.

"True, true," Alex agreed with her and she raised her glass as well. She then stopped in her tracks; she paused to take a closer look at Sara, who noticed her gaze. Sara turned around 360 degrees so Alex could see the complete picture. Alex nodded approvingly. "You know… you look really good tonight."

Sara beamed. She may have even blushed as well.

"Thanks," she said. she took an extensive look at Alex, who mimicked Sara turning around. "You're not bad yourself."

Alex took a sip from her glass and grinned at her friend. "I try my best."

A new song played. It was one of the most popular dance numbers of that year. The senior population expressed their pleasure of hearing the first tunes and cheered. This was the third time it was played this evening, but that did not matter – it still elicited the same reaction from the graduates, who became more drunk with the minute.

"Shall we dance?" Alex said. Sara grinned.

"I can't say no to that."

They left their glasses at the table, unattended. They didn't care that they wouldn't remember where they'd put it. They would get some news drinks later and one graduate would notice the two unattended glasses and drink from it. For now, the two women only cared about dancing.

And they danced. They stayed together, having fun and singing along to the lyrics of English and German songs. They often butchered the pronunciation and sung what they believed the lyrics were. Fun and happiness were guaranteed. At one point, Sara had been spinning around so much she fell on the ground. Alex just stood next to her and together, they laughed. Only a party could make falling without hurting yourself such an enjoyable event to look back at when they were older.

Someone extended their hand to help Sara stand up. She followed the arm and saw that it was Ray. He looked sober – he was sober. Since he had tried a beer at his sixteenth birthday party, decided he disliked the hangover so much, he would never drink irresponsibly again. That was how it usually went: Sara drank and Ray would pick her up from the floor and bring her home so she could sleep it off.

"Ray!" Sara said, a smile on her face as she grabbed Ray's hand. Ray pulled her up to her feet and had to catch her – she almost fell over as she stood up.

"Hi, Sara," he said to her and then nodded at Alex to acknowledge her. Still, he had not come for Alex; he had come for Sara.

Ray looked at his girlfriend. "I need to show you something."

"Right now?" Sara wondered, glancing at Alex. She did not want to leave her best friend behind in the crowd. They had been having so much fun together, it would be a shame to stop it now.

"Yes, right now," Ray said. "You'll always have the chance to talk to her another time."

This rather weak argument convinced the drunk girls.

"Okay, then," Sara said. she grabbed Alex and hugged her tightly. "Bye, Alex!"

"Bye!" Alex hugged her back. They stood there for at least five more seconds until Sara let go and the two friends went their separate ways. Ray took Sara's hand and lead her to the exit of the venue. At first, Sara did not notice, but once they were outside, Sara became suspicious.

"Where are we going?" she asked. "The party's still going on." It was only nine o'clock – there still was one more hour of partying left. But Ray walked away from the venue. It did not look like he planned to go back inside.

"I know," he said. "But I want to show you something outside of this party. More specifically, atop the Palmer building."

Sara's mouth fell open in surprise. "Really?"

The top of the building was usually off-limits. Though the Palmers had their own nice mansion, they also owned a not-quite-penthouse on the top floor of the Palmer Tech building. The roof was not to be used for personal gain, David Palmer used to say. It was still off-limits, but Ray wanted to show her something special from up there. Still, it would be spectacular; it would be the first time Sara would be so up high from the ground.

"I've got a nice surprise for you if you'd like to accompany me." Ray offered her his hand again. Sara stared at it for a second and then smiled at him.

"Of course," she said and she took his hand.

* * *

The elevator ride was long, but Sara did not mind as long as she leaned against Ray. Adrenaline rushed through her body. It could be the height, it could be the rush of finally going higher than she's been before. She could not exactly pinpoint what it was, but that rush really was something. And knowing that the surprise was coming closer with each floor they passed could contribute to that rush, too. And to top that all off, she was going to experience it with her boyfriend. Today could not get any better.

The elevator doors slid open at last and revealed the living room of the penthouse. Sara spotted the balcony and was ready to dash across the room to stand on it, but Ray's gentle hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Not yet," he said. "First, I want to ask you whether you'd like to go a little higher?"

That was a stupid question. "Yes!" Ray directed her away from the elevator and to the large staircase, which they had not taken because it would be such an inconvenience. They continued their journey upward, to one final door that brought an end to the staircase. Ray took the lead and placed his hand on the door handle.

"Are you ready for the view of your life?" he asked. Sara nodded.

"Just show me already!" she said with the excitement of a little girl. Ray grinned and opened the door.

Sara walked onto the roof and was met with an ice-cold breeze. She pressed her jacket closely against her as the wind played with her hair. She walked until she was about five yards away from the edge, safely looking down from up so high.

Ray joined her and stood next to her, an arm over her shoulders. "Here's your view."

The Palmer Tech building was one of the biggest skyscrapers in Star City. As she looked down, she had a great sight of Star City down below. All artificial lights made it a colorful pallet while the siren of a police car or maybe firefighters or ambulance just barely managed to reach the top. There was so much to see – the Academy was right to the east, and then in the north, there was the Star City Stadion. The town hall, the Merlyn building, the Queen building, the park… all major hotspots were visible.

"You are the Canary now," Ray said after some silence. "You were meant to soar above the rest of them." He turned his head to Sara. "Do you like the view?"

A modest smile appeared on her face. "I do."

And they stood there and enjoyed the view. Sara leaned against Ray and silently, they took in every little detail they could discern.

Still, there was something about the scene that did not seem right to her. For Ray, this may be natural, but this wasn't it for her. She was not afraid of heights, but something was missing.

And as she looked up, she knew what it was.

Sara reminded herself of a specific night she had spent with Alex Danvers only two months ago. It was the Easter Break and Alex had invited Sara to come along to her hometown. Sara agreed. It was just her and Alex; Kara stayed behind in Star City. Alex explained what life was like in rural areas as opposed to urban areas and cities. Her family may have sold their house and moved to Star City, but Alex still had friends there. One of those friends was a farmer who allowed the girls to camp on his property.

Sara had never been camping before. It soon became one of her favorite activities, especially during the night. Because when night fell, it was dark. This was not the darkness of a city – there were streetlights in the far distance, not close enough to light their way. They had to use flashlights to get to their tent. But when Alex woke Sara up in the night and brought her outside, Sara was blown away.

Up in the sky, there were a million and more stars. The moon shone brightly, too. Alex explained that stargazing was one of her and Kara's favorite activities when they were younger and more innocent. While Kara did not seem to miss this particular activity, Alex often returned to the countryside so she could gaze at the stars and revel in this natural wonder. Alex pointed out and named all constellations – Sara attempted to coin a few new ones as well, having never seen something like this before. The girls had an overall wonderful time – no ten minutes passed by without them laughing or smiling to some extent. Sara specifically remembered wishing that moment could last forever.

That jubilant memory stood in sharp contrast to her current location. The natural light from the moon and stars were drowned out by artificial lights. The calm of the countryside had no place in a busy city like this. Instead of looking up in awe, she was now forced to look down, almost in anticipation of something big happening – something big that may never come.

One of the biggest differences was her companion. Alex was spontaneous, kind, willing to teach Sara some of the things she may never have known about if it weren't for her. Alex was patient with her, never looked down on Sara for where she came from, since she had been in that place herself. It may not have been the exact same place, though they were on the same of irrelevance before something magnificent entered their lives through their sisters. Alex was not just a best friend, but a possibly platonic soulmate.

On the other side, there was Ray. The cute young man with a charming smile that hid numerous secrets. He was one of the smartest people she knew, and he knew it. He tried explaining what he did to her, using many difficult words for scientific concepts and using similarly difficult words to explain those other difficult words. He had given up trying to explain anything her altogether, while Sara probably would have understood all the core concepts if he had chosen simpler terms and drew more analogies.

Because of this, she had a feeling Ray looked down on her – he genuinely loved her, but he was careful not to say something negative about the 'working class' in public while he privately did not censor himself. Sara was "one of the few good ones", as opposed to the entire population of the working class. Even though she used to love Ray, she was certain the amount of love she felt was gradually diminishing.

That was the most confusing aspect of this comparison – her love for these people. Was it bad that she could not differentiate between platonic friendship and romantic love?

At that moment, Sara realized she would have preferred to stay with Alex and partied until curfew than to stay on a rooftop for an unknown amount of time. But she could not return; the party must have been almost over by now. It's not like Sara could go home now either; she had technically left the party and thus, she'd never make it come before curfew. She would have to spend the night with her boyfriend.

But she did not think about sharing the bed with him in such a romantic way. Instead, she shocked herself by imagining herself sharing the bed with Alex, and liking it. A chill went down her spine – she shouldn't think treacherous thoughts like that, but once the image had formed, Sara could not shake it off.

She liked Alex. She liked _girls_.

This could not be happening.

But nothing was lost yet. If she loved girls, then so be it, but she also still loved boys. That was a good sign. She could pass as straight. She could live her life and nobody needed to know. Whether Alex liked girls was a question that may never be answered; an enigma only the stars knew the answer to.

So she stood on the rooftop and leaned against Ray, her eyes on the city behind her. Yet, in her mind, Sara was on the fields with Alex, sitting in front of their tent and looking at the stars.


	8. Legacy

Ray took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Somehow, this entire ordeal had made him feel anxious. He had never been in his father's office before. It was just strange that he now was going to enter. It was such a surreal place – it existed, but remained out of Ray's existence – such a sacred place that the thought of even sticking one toe over the threshold was outlandish and foolish.

But Ray placed a hand on the door handle anyway. He wished his brothers were here. Barry was on a diplomatic mission in Germany and Rory, if he remembered correctly, was deployed in Argentina. Ray was all alone. And with every ounce of courage he could muster, Ray pushed down the door handle and opened the door.

The room was still in its original shape; nothing had been touched yet. This must be the first time someone entered it after the murder. Somehow, opening the door and seeing what lay behind it made it easier for him to enter. With every step, this motion felt less and less like a violation and more like an act of strength. This was his now. He should act accordingly.

Ray took his time to look at the many different documents stored in the closets. He found policies and codes of conduct. He found the design for the room that made Steel obedient. He saw a thousand and one other documents before he found the list.

It did not surprise him that not the parents' names, but the children's names were written on it. It made sense that his father would have attempted to raise them instead of killing them for the sake of a stable timeline. It's such a pity that in adulthood, only Rory's was a success story.

At long last, Ray carefully sat down in his late father's chair. It seemed a special moment; anyone else would see a man just sitting down. It was the symbolic act of accepting the role as acting CEO of Palmer Tech and the promise of taking on the load his father had left behind for him.

Ray sat in silence for a while, not moving much at all. He quietly reminisced. But eventually, he did grab the phone on the desk. It was in direct connection to the security, which was exactly whom Ray needed to speak to.

"Bring him to the office," he said and hung up. he did not need to hear the confirmation. Ray knew these men well; they would obey his commands as well as his brothers' when they were younger, but now they worked for him, and not for David.

As he expected, two of his father's personal guards arrived a couple of minutes later. They each held an arm of an unkempt man in a dirty trench coat. They rudely threw him on the ground. He may have been injured, but Ray did not care. The man deserved every injury he got.

"So glad you could join us," Ray said. The man stood up and glared at Ray.

"Just as happy to be here, Mr. Palmer," he said sarcastically in a British accent. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Ray almost lost control there and then. He stood from the chair and leaned in closer, fury in his eyes. He did not give in to that anger, though. It would not help his situation at all and his prisoner may like that.

"Are you?" he just asked. To his surprise, the man nodded.

"I am," he said in a sincere tone, even if nothing suggested he was saddened by these events. "He was a good man and an even better citizen. I had wished nothing for him but a long and happy life."

"And still you murder him," Ray said.

The man nodded again. "I assure you, he did not feel it. I have him a lethal injection while he slept, yes, but I first injected a strong sedative. He truly did not feel anything and passed away peacefully and unaware.

Ray remained silent for a while. His sincerity made Ray truly believe this murderer had indeed not wanted his father to suffer. At least he could give the man credit for that little detail, for that tiny piece of compassion. This almost made the tears flow again, but he was not giving his father's murderer the pleasure of witnessing his son cry.

"Tell me why," Ray then said. "Why, in your opinion, did he have to die now?"

"I work for an organization called the Time Masters," the 'Time Master' said in the same carefully constructed tone. "I am the one who gave your father that list. But the actions he took resulted in some unforeseen consequences. David lived longer than he was supposed to in this new timeline, which caused significant ripples in time. It saddens to have to kill him, but the timeline needs to stay intact for as long as it can to allow this timeline to cement. To keep the New Reich from falling as early as it was originally supposed to."

If Ray understood it correctly, his father was supposed to have lived longer in the timeline the Time Master created by giving David the list. David took it upon themselves to change the timeline for him, but that caused too big consequences for the timeline. Out of fear that his work would be noticed, this time traveler decided it would be a great idea to keep this timeline around but to return to the day that David was supposed to die in the original timeline to kill him.

But the time traveler had not counted on Ray.

"What's your name?"

"Rip Hunter."

"Thank you," Ray responded. He then addressed his guards, who had been silently following the conversation. Of course they would not speak about what was said in this room with anyone. "Take Rip Hunter to the cells. Do not let him out under any circumstance.

Rip did not like this turn of events. A shocked expression came to his face – as if he had expected to walk free – while the guards each grabbed one of Rip's arms again. He was heavily opposed to staying in this time period.

"If I stay too long, my bosses will find me," Rip said in a panic. They'd find out what he had done and they would severely punish him.

"Then you should have considered that before you came," Ray said coldly. He would not be extending his mercy towards the man who had murdered his father. Rip did not kick or shout or do anything to hinder the work of the guards. He did not like the situation, but he could accept this was happening and maybe he was already putting together an escape plan.

Ray sat down in the chair again, trying to calm down. He reminded himself he was just and that this course of action was justified.

He was heading Palmer Tech now. It was high time to put some of its resources to good use.


	9. Just one kiss

It was only a formality that Ray Palmer was asked to attend the wedding of the century, when Oliver Queen and Kara Danvers were to become husband and wife. He had excitedly shown his invitation to Sara, believing that she had received one as well. After all, she had grown so much the past three years, growing into her role as the Canary and becoming a great asset as a New Reichsman. It is even rumored that Sara Lance may be just as good as, if not even better than Oliver Queen in combat and that she may have even officially beaten him once. But these are only rumors and neither Mr. Queen nor Miss Lance confirmed the common theory.

Despite her accomplishments and great performance as a soldier, she had not received a wedding invitation. It soon became clear only the rich and powerful friends of Oliver and Kara's were invited, to present a certain image to the people at home who would follow the event from their living rooms – these people were rich and far away and something these normal folk could never reach, even if they worked hard. Likewise, many other former classmates who originally came from poorer backgrounds were not invited either.

The invitation allowed for a plus one and Ray did not hesitate to ask Sara to come to the wedding with him. She agreed.

Sara and Laurel prepared for the party together; Laurel would go as Tommy's plus one since she had not received an invitation either. They talked about their dates, though for brevity's sake, this will not be included here. The most important take-away was Laurel discovering Sara was not as much in love with Ray anymore as she had been.

Sara confessed she had started to fall out of love. Laurel could not believe Sara could no longer love such a gentleman like Ray Palmer, but she did accept the fact that people could change and fall out of love. When asked what exactly made her stop loving Ray, Sara could not give a clear answer. She did state she still liked Ray as a good friend and that she relished their strong friendship, but that the romantic stuff with him no longer excited her. Laurel assumed it was boring sex that drove Sara away, but Laurel never got Sara to say this out loud.

The conversation was dropped as soon as their dates arrived to pick them up. Both Ray and Tommy wore nice designer suits, while Sara and Laurel wore designer dressed they would never have been able to afford if they hadn't been working as New Reichsmen, a well-paid job that could allow them to live outside of poverty.

The red carpet was not as stressful as Sara and Laurel thought it would be. Most of the journalists focused on the men. They did not ask Sara a single question (but she did say she was happy for Oliver and Kara) and Laurel was only asked about her previous crush on Oliver. She had dismissed that crush as silly, though she would later admit Oliver still had a special place in her heart despite being a couple with Tommy.

The ceremony was beautiful and televised, so I will – once again – not go into detail. The newlyweds stepped into a limousine and drove off to the venue where the reception was going to be held. The paparazzi did not hound the guests and after explicitly being told which journalists were allowed to enter to shoot some footage for the news, the remaining journalists went home. The guests could subsequently safely go to the party venue as well without worrying about being humiliated by the press.

* * *

The reception was fun and the atmosphere was fantastic, this was not to Sara's taste. She stood by the side and briefly talked to Ray, but he soon was dragged on the dance floor by his adopted brother Barry. Sara wasn't feeling very well and she had told Ray to explain her distant behavior to those who wondered what was going on. Sara didn't feel like dancing – it might make her feel sicker. Still, she didn't want to leave too soon either; not everyone present needed to know she wasn't feeling right.

The truth was a little different. There was nothing physically wrong with her, but this entire day she has been struggling mentally and had no idea what to do with her thoughts. Visiting a psychiatrist was dangerous, as was talking to someone about her problem. Alex had moved far away and phone calls could be monitored.

She was happy for Oliver and Kara, but this event triggered a chain of thoughts. She realized that, while she didn't love Ray, Ray still loved her and may want to propose. The media circus would descend upon them: their marriage and love were for the entire world to see and enjoy. If she married Ray, she would no longer be a private person.

If she marries anyone at all, despite this being the perfect cover story, she would no longer be free.

Sara walked to the exit. If anyone asked, she said she needed some fresh air. She couldn't take staying inside for too long, where everyone was happy and joyous when she could not share that sentiment. But she did not just stay by the entrance, she walked over to one of the back alleys of the venue.

During her work, Sara had figured out she felt more comfortable in the dark and quiet of a dirty alleyway. The city lights and sounds were dampened and everything was generally calmer, with a bigger risk of finding some thug to beat up. She could enjoy this loneliness for a while and took a deep breath – she would still inevitably have to return to Ray and keep up the façade.

But she was not alone in the alley.

"Stop right there."

A blonde woman held a gun, which she pointed at Sara. There was a fearless look in her eyes and a strong determination. If she had felt threatened, Sara believed the woman would not hesitate to shoot her.

"Hey!" Sara said, putting her hands in the air defensively. She was not intimidated in the least; she was merely annoyed. This was not the peace and quiet she had been looking for here. "Don't point the gun at me."

The woman then recognized Sara. Realization and shock came across her face and she immediately lowered the gun.

"I'm sorry, miss Lance." She fumbled as she tried to put the gun away. it was a common reaction – the woman hadn't expected to stand face-to-face with a New Reichsman, let alone the Canary, not even on this day.

"Please, call me Sara," Sara said. she took a good look at the woman. She was pretty gorgeous. While Sara had known for two years that she also liked girls, she no longer had the energy to shake those thoughts away. She was way past only acknowledging she had these thoughts and was more willing than ever to accept she thought women were hot. Society and media may have brainwashed her and the entire population into thinking only a man and a woman are allowed to be in a relationship, Sara could not care anymore. Passing as straight and suppressing those treasonous thoughts were exhausting and Sara was running out of energy. But that didn't mean she could accept what she was; she only accepted she had those thoughts.

Sara then focused on other things to take her mind off of her gay struggles. Posture; the woman stood there like she belonged, impeccable with a straightened back and a perfect bun. She probably was strict as well. The uniform told Sara that she was working at the moment, being part of the security team for this evening. Sara glanced at the name tag: she was speaking to Ava Sharpe, working for Sneller Security.

"What are you doing here?" Sara asked to allow Ava to explain her current job herself instead of allowing her assumptions to run wild in her head.

"The company I work for has been hired for the security of this venue," Ava said. "Sneller Security. Nobody goes through that door." She briefly pointed at a back door that possibly led to the venue's kitchen.

Sara frowned. "They stationed you here."

"A possible mass murderer could enter the party through this door," Ava said with the seriousness, confidence, and authority of a young kid proclaiming he's a soldier and protects the house. Except Ava's imagined scenario was actually possible, however small the chance was. "Someone needs to guard it."

"And that someone is you," Sara said.

"Exactly," Ava said and she nodded once. Sara was attracted to Ava's sense of duty, but she didn't like how she started to feel about this hot security woman. Maybe Sara should fine another alleyway to take a breather… but then she would lose her conversational partner.

"What are _you_ doing out here, miss Lance?" Ava finally asked her. "Don't you like the party?"

Sara shrugged. "It's nice. It's fun." She paused. "It's suffocating."

She did not expect Ava to understand, but the security guard compassionately nodded her head.

"You're welcome to stay with me however long you'd like," she said. Sara was eager to take that offer – maybe she shouldn't be so eager to spend more time with this woman. But at that moment, anything would be better than spending time with the wedding guests and the newlyweds.

"Aren't you supposed to do your job?" Sara asked, a playful smile on her lips. Ava shot her the most offended look Sara had ever seen.

"I am doing my job," she defended herself. "I'm more competent than you give me credit for."

"Okay then." Sara believed her and did her best not to sound skeptical.

"Besides, you're the Canary. If someone tries to enter through that door, you'll easily knock them out."

Now Sara shot her most surprised look at Ava. "So now _I_ am protecting this door?"

"No," Ava said, sounding determined. "We can do it together if you'd like." She extended her hand to Sara, as if to make a deal – we guard this door together. Sara looked at the hand and then at Ava.

"I can live with that." She took the hand and shook it without breaking eye contact. Ava's grasp was firm, but she did not squeeze too hard. It was also warm, nicely warm. Sara would have liked to hold hands a little longer. Sara would have rolled her eyes – it was a handshake and Ava was still a stranger to her. Holding hands for longer than a few seconds was inappropriate in any scenario. So they let go and the thought subsided.

"You look cute," Ava blurted out. For a second, this put some primal fear in Sara. Her mind was racing; was Ava gay? Did she notice? If she hadn't, how long would it take? But Ava quickly corrected herself. "I mean, you look really good."

"Thanks," Sara said, trying to sound confident and like she didn't just have a little crisis. It seemed to work; Ava hadn't noticed Sara's fear.

"I hope your boyfriend appreciates it."

Sara nodded. "He does." Ray never let an opportunity to compliment her go to waste, even when she was a mess and hadn't showered in three days for various reasons. Lately, it started to sound like he was only complimenting her because that's what he always does.

Ava folded her arms and tilted her head. "Then why do you sound so hesitant?"

Had she sounded hesitant? Sara hadn't noticed. She'd rather not tell anyone what was going on, but she needed to get this off of her chest sooner or later or risk drowning in her thoughts. But she couldn't talk about her attraction or risk being murdered, but at least she could open up to someone about her relationship problems.

"If I tell you, do you promise not to tell him?" Sara asked.

"There's a high chance I'll never talk to him."

"Good point." Sara took a deep breath. _Here it goes. _"Ray's a good guy. He is kind and nice and ambitious. He loves me."

"But…?" Ava insisted after a pause that lasted a little too long. Sara shrugged again and sighed.

"I don't know. Something's missing."

"Then you shouldn't marry him," Ava bluntly said. Sara was both shocked and not surprised Ava believed she and Ray would marry one day. She did not see herself as Mrs. Palmer, though. "If something is missing now, then that'll cause problems down the road, no matter how much he loves you. It's best to talk it out and be honest."

But complete honesty wasn't an option.

Still, Ava was right. Sara had no idea how much luck Ava has had finding a life partner, but it did sound like the right idea. It was exactly what she had needed to hear, but what nobody had ever told her. After all, the world probably expected she would marry Ray in the long term – at least a stranger with basic common sense was able to give her this advice.

This could have been the end of it. Sara could have thanked her for the advice and the conversation, and she could've walked away. It could have ended there and then. But Sara was not done talking. Telling someone about the problem in the least possible words was heavenly. A tiny piece of the weight on her shoulders was lifted and now she wanted more of that weight to come off.

"For two years, I've been telling myself it will work out eventually. That I'll learn to love him again. It never happened. But he's a good friend and I don't want to lose that." Sara shook her head once and closed her eyes. It was her fault; two years ago, the Realization came and ruined her relationship with Ray. "I don't love him anymore." It was a truth she had known for these years, a truth she had not wanted to speak into existence.

Ava nodded compassionately and respectfully. "That is perfectly acceptable. People fall in and out of love all the time."

"That's not everything," Sara added. "I think that I'm…"

No. Stop. What are you doing?

Around Ava, Sara had felt incredibly comfortable. Somehow the woman had appeared at the right moment at the right place; as if some higher instance had sent her to Sara to comfort her, to understand what she was going through – or at least to be compassionate and carrying about it instead of saying what everyone else said.

But it also was _too_ comfortable. Sara almost revealed her big secret. She almost said it out loud. Sara did not want to do that or even planned to do this. There were cameras and microphones everywhere, possibly around this place, too. And this strict stranger who's shown compassion may turn on her in an instant, who may report her aberrant sexuality and thoughts to the police. It could literally be the end of her.

Sara sat down and leaned against the wall. She did not care about her dress becoming dirty and placed her head in her hands. Why had she even come here? Why couldn't she stay inside and endure it all? Why wasn't she just normal and straight, or why wasn't she perfectly fine with what she was, with _who_ she was?

Ava sat down next to her. She did not speak for a while, to allow Sara to collect her thoughts.

"You don't need to say anything if you don't want to," Ava then said. Sara could hear a bit of hesitation in her voice, some element she couldn't place. Such a confident woman, but suddenly so hesitant.

"But if I understand you correctly…" Ava continued, still not looking at Sara and instead focusing on a brick in the wall opposite from where they sat. She paused briefly but followed the silence with something she needed to get off of her chest. "I would like you to know that you're not alone. I like girls."

This shocked Sara to her core. This woman, this beautiful kind woman, liked girls.

They were strangers. Sara was a freaking New Reichsman and yet she dared to admit this out loud. Sara had every right to arrest Ava at that moment. It was socially expected of her to take this woman away from the society, lest she'd corrupt it.

But Sara didn't arrest her. She couldn't. Ava was living the same struggle. By sharing her own big secret, she validated what Sara felt. With those three simple words, she told the Canary she was not alone, that there were others like her in the New Reich. It was so strange to hear the words, but it was such a relief at the same time.

If she wasn't so shocked, Sara would cry. And after hearing Ava's truth, she just had to say it as well. She had to affirm it as well. She needn't be so exhausted anymore.

"I think…" Sara said. "I think I like boys and girls. And girls more so than boys."

There it was. The secret was not a secret anymore. It was out there. It was free; restricted to the alleyway, but someone knew. And that was great.

Ava sighed in relief. "Thank goodness you're not straight!" Her eyes widened after saying this. "I mean—"

"I know what you mean."

Sara found a new friend that night. Someone she could call up sometimes to discuss the hardships in coded language. Someone to be there when she was feeling miserable. And maybe, in the long run, something more as well.

The women looked one at one another. They stared for too long a time to be considered just a friendly stare. Ava had already confirmed she thought Sara was hot; Sara herself believed Ava to be gorgeous. The inevitable question came to mind – how did it feel like, kissing someone of the same sex? It couldn't be the same as kissing a man. Trying once wouldn't be so bad. Know how it feels, then treasure the experience and revel in it. whatever else would happen, she'd have that kiss. That one moment of pure bliss.

Sara hadn't realized she'd been leaning closer to Ava. Ava saw this as an invitation and took her chance. Their lips collided in what was undoubtedly the most magical experience of their lives. Their first same-sex kiss.

A nearby camera registered this exchange. While the police took action, they were smart enough not to get involved with the Canary. They sent the tapes to Ray so he could deal with it.


	10. Execution

Ray did not feel mercy for the treacherous woman who had forced herself onto his girlfriend.

Ray had reviewed the footage of the crime. He couldn't believe it at first – his Sara would never kiss a girl so willingly. There was not a doubt in his mind this woman was to blame. There were cracks in the system everywhere; just as extremely strict parents raise perfect liars, the values of the Reich could not be passed on to the rebellious, to those who wanted to stand out in an abhorrent way. Ava Sharpe, masquerading as a security guard and a decent person, was one of those people.

On the flip side, Sara was not such a person. Ray knew her; he'd been her boyfriend for several years now. He could still picture the conversation he had wanted to have with her next week; a conversation that would have ended in their engagement. That reality had been so close – was still so close – but it felt so far away now.

_Why did you do that?_

No. Sara could never be that vile. That lady must have done or said something Sara could not refuse. It must have happened against her will, but then why didn't she pull away immediately?

Ray sent a confirmation e-mail to the police captain who forwarded him the footage. Ray had decided he would deal with Sara, as the captain wished. The police were free to do what they wanted to the woman. Ray also forwarded the footage to Laurel, with the request to take Sara to a remote location so she could prove or disprove her actions. The footage served as a way not to talk about it – he couldn't talk about it.

Three hours later, in the late evening, he received a message back from Laurel. It contained the address, as well as one short – painful – sentence. Sara confirmed enjoying the action.

Ray did not wait. He ran to his car and drove to the address himself. The GPS led him to an abandoned postal office in a neighborhood Ray would have never even entered on his own volition in the past. He parked his car in front of the building. These people living here would never dare to vandalize or to even steal it. This must have been one of the first times such a car was parked in the neighborhood; Ray was convinced his car would still be in perfect condition when he returned. Also, he wanted to see Sara as quickly as possible.

There was one central room that was illuminated. Ray walked in and stopped in his tracks almost immediately. Laurel stood by the side, leaning against the wall. She wore her New Reichsman uniform. So was Sara – she had donned the black-and-red suit she was given on her first day. Still, neither sisters wore their masks.

Sara's wrists were restrained behind her back. She sat on her knees in the middle of the room and did not make any attempts to run away. She knew she was trapped and did not try to run. Running would make her look even more guilty.

_Please don't run._

Sara turned her head to watch Ray. He'd hoped to see shock and fear in her eyes. He wished she would affirm her innocence and would betray the woman who kissed her. He hoped she would be confused and demand to be released. She did not do any of those things. Instead, she was calm. Collected. She stared at Ray with determination and a certain sadness.

"Hi, Ray," she greeted her. She had cried before he entered, but now even her voice was steady. It scared him – it made him afraid for her life.

"Sara…" Ray walked closer to her, but he still kept a respectable distance. He squatted down, not taking his eyes off of the girlfriend and looked at her with pity. "What did she make you do?"

"She didn't make me do anything," Sara said. It didn't sound like she'd been forced to say this. Unfortunately, Ray was inclined to believe. "I may have initiated it."

That was the biggest shock. Ray even had to catch his breath again and he almost fell backward. Though she was telling it herself, he still found it hard to believe. Everything he thought he knew about her shattered him; still in denial, still unwilling to see the truth. Sara couldn't be one of them. he'd have known – he had spent so much time with her. Her twisted interest would have come up one way or another.

"Why?"

"I needed to know what it felt like," Sara said. Ray would never know why she would want to know such a thing. He just knew it was part of a systemic problem she was struggling with. She needed help. They would provide, if only she wanted it.

"Why lower yourself to her level?" Ray asked in a softer voice, speaking more empathetically._ Tell us what we need to hear. _They could help her solve her problem, they could help her get rid of it. At least Ray and possibly Laurel, too, would be willing to help her overcome her struggles. _Please, let us help._

"Because I _am_ on her level," Sara said. She looked at Ray for a couple of moments before continuing with the bravery he was so familiar with. "She likes girls. I like boys and girls. I loved you, I really did, but I can't deny what I am anymore."

For a second, Ray had no idea how to react. His brain short-circuited. He shifted on his feet.

"Then choose not to be like that," he asked. He pleaded with her.

Sara was hurting him. They both knew it; Ray could feel it, but Sara – even though saddened by what she was doing – did not back down. Why did she have to be so stubborn? She took a deep breath and shook her head.

"That's not how it works," she responded in the same soft voice Ray had used. "I can't reject it. Not anymore. This is me."

Ray sighed. He had failed. "Then I have nothing left to say."

He stood up and walked away from her. Still, he remained in the room, standing close to Laurel. He couldn't say goodbye to Sara – not yet.

"Dad's on his way," Laurel said after she had checked her phone. Sara's eyes widened, but she did not speak. Quentin was coming. If Ray had to guess what could happen from watching the sisters' reactions, it could not be good.

"Should we give him space?" Ray asked Laurel. The Siren nodded.

"That is the best thing we can do."

He leaned against the wall with her. Laurel and Ray often glanced at Sara, who refused to talk to them or even to show any further weaknesses, when they weren't watching the floor. Ray's heart ached, but he could do nothing. She refused help, so he was literally helpless. All he could do now was to wait.

Much sooner than Ray had expected, the door slammed open. Quentin, in a rage Ray had never witnessed before, stormed into the room. His eyes were almost red and his anger levels only rose when he saw his treasonous daughter.

"You!" he exclaimed as he approached her. "I can't believe it. My own daughter, a piece of filth! You're—"

"Spare me the lecture," Sara interrupted him. "Just do it."

At this moment, Quentin was officially on duty. He still wore his uniform and it authorized him to act upon any crime whenever he witnessed it. it gave him powers that had turned him into an efficient but cruel man. As far as the Reich would be concerned, Mr. Lance was in the right and fulfilled his duty.

Without hesitation, Quentin pulled out his gun and shot once.

Sara's body dropped to the floor under the watchful eye of those people who once loved her the most.

Quentin did not feel any remorse for his actions. A sick sense of pride rose within him, knowing he eradicated a small part of a big problem the Reich had been dealing with. He'd killed the aberrant New Reichsman to try and keep the Reich's norms and values intact. Homosexuality was not to be tolerated, especially when people chose to live this lifestyle. They had to die, even if such a person used to be his daughter.

Laurel was saddened to witness her sister's death and would mourn her, but even she believed they were doing the Reich a favor. Without Sara, a public figure who practiced homosexuality was eliminated, thus making sure she would not further encourage this kind of behavior. Her murder still hurt Laurel.

Ray was objectively hurt the most. He did not close his eyes and saw it all. He could not take his eyes off of Sara as the gunshot rang through the air. And suddenly, something changed. Something was missing now. The corpse dropped the floor while a sense of emptiness filled him – it was the kind of emptiness that could not easily fade. The kind that stuck to you like glue. The kind that made you not want to do anything but stare off in the distance with nothing on your mind while time silently crawled on.

He remained in the post office long after Quentin and Laurel left. He admitted to crying when nobody could see it. he called Rory so he could dispose of the body. His brother came as soon as he could. Ray explained the situation, Rory asserted this was the right course of action but wished Ray a speedy recovery from an unfortunate love. Rory discretely had the corpse of Sara Lance burned somewhere. Only when Rory had stepped through the door with the corpse did Ray exit the abandoned postal office.

The next day, it was reported the Canary had gone missing. As far as the New Reich citizens were concerned, Sara Lance was still missing. It nonetheless is a popular conspiracy that she had run into the Freedom Fighters and that they somehow had overpowered her. They were keeping her as a prisoner, or she became loyal to them, or they used her as a source of information (according to popular conspiracies). It similarly had crossed people's minds that she could have passed away or maybe was murdered, but the true circumstances of her death were never uncovered until now. And likewise, her sexuality had never been revealed to the public, either, until now.


	11. Conquest

Ray Palmer never officially nor unofficially joined the New Reichsmen. Instead of pursuing a military career like all of his classmates, he focused on science and engineering. Over these two years, he had almost perfected his A.T.O.M.-suit. He did not explicitly hand over this revolutionary shrinking technology to the New Reich, but he did give them the blueprints of his suit minus the shrinking tech. Oliver Queen himself had overseen the blueprints and had promised Ray he would never have to hand over 'secrets' he did not want to share with anyone – unless, of course, those secrets threatened the New Reich in any way.

After Sara's death, something broke. He did not feel like doing any work on the suit anymore. Not even Barry or Rory could persuade him to continue the work. His progress with this suit had been intrinsically tied to Sara, who had been there for him every step of the way. Now she's gone, he could not find the courage to finish what he had started, even if the result he had been working towards was within reach if he just extended his hand far enough.

He could not work on other inventions either, so he turned to humanitarian causes instead. Those were his plans, he had to do something in life. Such as, provide help for injured veterans. Give everyone – even minorities – access to good healthcare. Raise the poorest citizens to an acceptable level of middle-class wealth. In short: make the New Reich greater: not by expanding territory, but by stabilizing the broken society he had grown up in. Ray had the funds, he only needed to invest in these good causes.

Laure often came to visit. They regularly saw each other as friends and talked about Sara, often avoiding the unfortunate mistake she'd made and instead of keeping a positive memory alive. The Sara in their minds had made a dire mistake and paid the price for it; the Sara in their minds hadn't initiated it and showed sorrow and disdain for her actions. This Sara slowly replaced who she had been in her last moments in the postal office.

Two years after the Canary officially went missing, Oliver Queen left to conquer Earth-1. Ray was asked if he wanted to join them as a technological expert. Ray declined the offer and also refused to lend him Steel. In a similar vein, Laurel never responded to the call for action; some New Reichsmen needed to stay behind to keep the peace and the Siren was one of those New Reichsmen. She did wish Tommy good luck, hoping to see him again.

But she would never get the chance. Two days into the expedition, Ray found Laurel at his door. She too had been able to track Tommy's heartbeat with a device. The only place where she would find solace after his death was the Palmer home. Ray took her in and invited her to stay for as long as she needed. In the end, Laurel stayed one week before disappearing, probably drowning herself in work.

One month into the campaign, Thea Merlyn announced that both the Führer and his wife had passed away. This came as a great shock to everyone, including Ray. He had believed they were making stellar progress as they went through the Earth-1 American continent. But that could not be further from the truth – they were killed by the villains, the evil döppelgangers. In the same breath, Thea also announced she would be the new Führer.

Many opponents rose, especially misogynistic people who believed she would not be fit to rule, purely based on the fact that she was a woman (or 'girl', as these candidates described her). ray had learned Thea persuaded them one by one to stop saying these things and to drop out of the race, threatening to reveal their deepest secret to the public – secrets that could destroy their reputation, that would make it harder for them to do anything without being associated with their respective scandals.

So, they remained quiet. Ray did not.

Like most men, Ray saw Thea's weaknesses as a leader, but he also managed to see her strengths. She had been able to diffuse a difficult situation without violence. She could placate the people and took power without much, if any, resistance. despite her physical prowess and her almost being Oliver's equal in archery, she preferred not to show herself as too violent. She played into being the girl leader who does not like violence, which was a brilliant move.

Still, Ray did not like how she treated her people. Her short-term plans included increasing pressure in Australia, fewer people in prison camps and more specialized camps for the different kinds of rebels, as well as the reintroduction of the obligatory military service. After hearing her points, Ray jumped up and shared his own ideas with the people. His ideas were based on fixing the New Reich as he knew it. He wanted to improve living conditions for the citizens they had, instead of adding more people to the total population. He would continue the Australia campaign, but it would take a back-seat to helping out their citizens first. He wanted to fix the infrastructure in poverty-stricken areas and improve public transportation, giving them a better chance of finding and keeping a job a little further from home. In the long run, people would have better chances to rise out of poverty. In addition to this, the New Reich citizens like his state-sponsored high school and higher education plans, while they were less excited about mandatory healthcare for all. Despite this minor hiccup, the people liked that Ray spoke for the citizens instead of needlessly continuing a war.

His final talking point was set to make a big change within the New Reich. Since Thea did not want to give the Führer title away and since many people wanted Ray to have a chance, Ray carefully steered the conversation towards the possibility of a general election with them as the only two candidates. I should note that Ray did not want this authoritarian system to turn into a democracy, but he did not mind that the people could vote this once to determine who would hold the title of Führer until their death or abdication.

The idea quickly spread among the citizens. They liked the freedom to decide in which direction the country would go. This idea of an election was also later addressed by miss Merlyn. The interim-Führer agreed and called for the elections to be held in three months, which should be enough time to get as many votes as possible.

Now both Ray and Thea could only wait.


End file.
